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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Savannah's been complaining that her knee hurts for some time. Being the awesome, caring mother I am, I told her to suck it up and rub some dirt on it. Honestly, I figured the pain was coming from the fact that she (and all my other kids) are growing so darn fast! But when the pain hadn't subsided after a couple months, I took her to the orthopedic doctor. Yes, I know I waited a long time to take her in, but she only complained about the pain once in a while. She was still able to walk and run and it wasn't affecting her too much, so I really thought it wasn't a big deal and would go away on its own in time.

So, we get to the doctor's office where they took her for an xray right away. When the doctor came in the room, he asked her a bunch of questions. "Does it hurt when you walk? Go up stairs? Bend it like this? Does this hurt? How about this? How about if I take your leg and put it behind your head while balancing a stack of bricks on it? Does it ever give out on you? Does it click? Does it lock?

Savannah told him that it wasn't that bad (more annoying really) and only hurt when she tried to lift her leg too high and sometimes when she walked. He looked puzzled and said, "Huh? I'm kinda surprised because your complaints don't fit what the xray showed." He said her complaints were suggestive of a little tendonitis and she should do some stretches because her left quad was a little tight and that was probably causing the pain. No biggie. Her xray, however, showed that Savannah has Osteochondritis Dissecans (OCD, for short. No, not that OCD.) Basically, part of her bone and cartilage is peeling away. Unfortunately it's a pretty big chunk and it's primarily on a weight bearing area. Because the xray, of course, didn't show the cartilage, the doctor ordered an MRI to get a better picture of whether this was an old injury that was healing on its own, or a new injury that needs repair.

We went to the hospital Monday for the MRI. After waiting fifteen hours, she was finally called back. I can't even count how many people we saw wearing masks at the hospital. I'm sure we'll both come down with tuberculosis in a matter of days. Anyway, she was stuck lying there for a half-hour MRI with no cell phone to text her friends! The horror! I was stuck watching CNN the whole time. (I know more about the health care law that I care to.) When she finished, the technician asked, "It was the left leg I was supposed to scan, right?"

"Umm, shouldn't you have asked that, oh say, before the test?!" Given his question, I figured he didn't see anything on the scan so he thought he'd double-check. I was fully expecting the doctor to call and say, "It's nothing." Wrong. It's a sizable piece that's peeling up. There's fluid behind it. If we don't get it fixed, her chances of developing problems and arthritis later in life are greatly increased. Although the doctor is certain her symptoms are just from a little tendonitis and not the Osteochondritis Dissecans. It was just fortuitous that the little pain she was experiencing brought us in for an xray which showed a greater problem that was arising.

So, we go back to the doctor next week to find out the details of the procedure and how long she'll be out of commission. I would've asked the doctor more questions over the phone except I had to go abruptly. As he was explaining the problem with Savannah's knee, I cut him off, "I smell gas! Not that kind of gas (although with three boys, I do smell my fair share of that gas.) There's a gas leak or something. Oh man, it's really strong! Get out of the house everyone! Go in the backyard! Oh my gosh, I think I have a gas leak! Oh, you're still on the phone, aren't you? I'm sorry. I need to go. I'll call back to make an appointment tomorrow."

Before heading outside myself, I looked at my stove to make sure it was off. It was. But the gas smell was dissipating already. Hmmm, I wonder. "Clayton! Did you try to turn on the stove a minute ago? You'd better tell me the truth because I'll find out and hunt you down, boy!" Yep, he did. Whatever possesses that boy to do what he does, prompted him to turn on the stove for no particular reason. Only he didn't light it. He turned the gas on, let it flood the house a bit and then turned it off.

So, anyway, Savannah and I go next week to get details. Savannah's not too upset about the surgery itself, but was in tears because she'll miss softball season. She looks forward to it all year. I feel awful for her, but on the other hand, that's one less kid I have to get to games by myself this spring! But mostly, I really do feel bad she's going to miss out.

I'd love to surprise her with some get well cards. This is where you come in! If you want to send Savannah a get well card, you can mail it to my PO Box:

I'll save them and give them to her when she has the surgery (probably in a couple weeks). Oh yeah, it's not too late to enter my contest to win a $200 Visa gift card from BlogHer and Arm & Hammer with Oxi Clean! Go HERE!*******************************Edited - I changed the address to 836 SOUTH Arlington Heights Rd. I accidentally had WEST before. I had a "duh" moment. I'm sorry.

19 comments:

I am so glad they found it this soon. My nephew's girlfriend just had surgery on her knee too and they said they thought is was from an injury from Cheerleading when she was in school. Sports are great but also things do happen sometimes.

Thanks for the update !I can hardly wait to get to the store tomorrow to get her a 'special card'. :)

Awww, poor Savannah! I feel her pain; a little over a year ago I broke my foot right after baseball started (In between the first and second practice, literally!) and missed the whole season :(. I'll get my little sister and I to make her cards ;).

My son is facing some similar issues due to pain in his hip & leg - his is suspected Legg Calve Perthe's disease and would require multiple surgeries & bracing over the next few years... he's 9, and once the disease progresses enough to necessitate the surgery to fix it, he'll be done with sports. We haven't told him this yet, since he hasn't reached the point where his activity is restricted. Breaks my heart, though. I'm sorry you're facing this with Savannah.

SSO: Could you give us newly single moms some advice on how to make it work money wise? I would love to know how you do it now with 6 kids. I have 3 and its hard doing this alone. Are you a stay-at-home-mom still? Thanks for any advice.

Poor Savannah. Card to be in the mail shortly. :)ps...LOVE the new pics on the sidebar of the blog. The kids look so BIG! Or maybe I've just been reading you so long that yes, they have grown up. (sigh) If we could just keep them little longer so we could cuddle 'em more!

Poor Savannah! I tore my ACL and miniscus playing softball at the beginning of the season last year, so I feel her pain. My assvice? Do what the physical therapist tells you to! Every. Single. Thing. You'll be back to your old self in no time :) P.S. Card is on it's way, but address is physical, not a P.O. Box, is that ok?

I just googled something ridiculous (looking for an exact Bill Cosby quote) and your blog was the first thing on the list. It made me laugh really hard! So when you see "so i went upstairs to my bed which is where i wanted to be in the first place" I have explained myself and deserve credit. ;) And for future reference, the exact quote I was looking for is "And my wife sent me to me room... which is where I wanted to go in the first place." (I was pretty close.)

Dawn - I feel for you and all that you are going thru right now. Hang in there - Savannah will be fine. And so will you. I've just gone thru a pretty rough divorce w/ 4 kids. It sucks. period. But it had to happen. And I know when all this stuff comes at you, sometimes you just wanna throw up your hands and quit. Don't. God will get ya thru it, girl!

Hey Dawn -I am sure you don't have time for this - but you should really consider getting a second opinion. You know how carpenters say measure twice - cut once? Well the same applies surgery. Have that MRI read by someone else before you do surgery.

I can remember I was diagnosed with OCD as a child, but I don't think it was a very bad case because I got better with minimal intervention. Of course that was before MRIs and the nurses did the xray in the back room with rodents spinning the wheels to provide the electricity.Hope all goes well for a speedy recovery.